09/18/2026
A Racine County sheriff’s deputy is charged with four felonies in the shooting of a man and that man’s 7-year-old son during a youth turkey hunt in April, according to a criminal complaint filed in Racine County Circuit Court.
James D. Lehman, 35, of Union Grove, was charged Aug. 17 with two counts of second-degree reckless injury with use of a dangerous weapon, Class F felonies, and two counts of injury by negligent use of a dangerous weapon, Class I felonies. The Class F count carries a maximum of 17 years and six months in prison — 12 years and six months for the offense, plus up to five years under the dangerous weapon enhancer.
Lehman was hired by the Racine County Sheriff’s Office as a corrections officer on July 22, 2019, and promoted to deputy on March 30, 2020, Lt. Michael Luell, the department’s public information officer, told Racine County Eye. He was placed on administrative leave April 12, 2026 — the day of the shooting — and resigned Sept. 9, eight days before his first court appearance.
Asked about the status of the department’s internal administrative investigation now that Lehman no longer works there, Luell said: “The Sheriff’s Office allowed the criminal investigation and prosecution to take precedence over the administrative investigation.” He did not say whether that administrative investigation was ever completed.
The case is being prosecuted by Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld rather than by Racine County. Luell said the Department of Natural Resources, which investigated, referred the case to the Racine County District Attorney’s Office, and that District Attorney Hanson then asked Wiedenfeld to prosecute it. Luell did not say why.
FOX6 reported that the injured man is a coworker of Lehman’s at the sheriff’s office, and that the case was referred to Walworth County for that reason. Racine County Eye asked the sheriff’s office to confirm whether the injured man is also a Racine County deputy. Luell declined, saying: “Due to the victim’s privacy concerns, I will not answer this question.” Racine County Eye is not naming the injured man or his son.
What the complaint says happened
Wardens were dispatched at about 2:19 p.m. on April 12 to the Cherry Lake Sedge Meadow State Natural Area in the Village of Rochester after two people were reported struck by gunfire, according to the complaint.
A Racine County sheriff’s deputy is charged with four felonies in the shooting of a man and that man’s 7-year-old son during a youth turkey hunt in April, according to a criminal complaint filed in Racine County Circuit Court.
James D. Lehman, 35, of Union Grove, was charged Aug. 17 with two counts of second-degree reckless injury with use of a dangerous weapon, Class F felonies, and two counts of injury by negligent use of a dangerous weapon, Class I felonies. The Class F count carries a maximum of 17 years and six months in prison — 12 years and six months for the offense, plus up to five years under the dangerous weapon enhancer.
Lehman was hired by the Racine County Sheriff’s Office as a corrections officer on July 22, 2019, and promoted to deputy on March 30, 2020, Lt. Michael Luell, the department’s public information officer, told Racine County Eye. He was placed on administrative leave April 12, 2026 — the day of the shooting — and resigned Sept. 9, eight days before his first court appearance.
Asked about the status of the department’s internal administrative investigation now that Lehman no longer works there, Luell said: “The Sheriff’s Office allowed the criminal investigation and prosecution to take precedence over the administrative investigation.” He did not say whether that administrative investigation was ever completed.
The case is being prosecuted by Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld rather than by Racine County. Luell said the Department of Natural Resources, which investigated, referred the case to the Racine County District Attorney’s Office, and that District Attorney Hanson then asked Wiedenfeld to prosecute it. Luell did not say why.
FOX6 reported that the injured man is a coworker of Lehman’s at the sheriff’s office, and that the case was referred to Walworth County for that reason. Racine County Eye asked the sheriff’s office to confirm whether the injured man is also a Racine County deputy. Luell declined, saying: “Due to the victim’s privacy concerns, I will not answer this question.” Racine County Eye is not naming the injured man or his son.
What the complaint says happened
Wardens were dispatched at about 2:19 p.m. on April 12 to the Cherry Lake Sedge Meadow State Natural Area in the Village of Rochester after two people were reported struck by gunfire, according to the complaint.
Lehman remained at the scene and spoke with a DNR warden. He said he was hunting during the two-day youth turkey season with his 3-year-old daughter, using a semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun. He said he was calling turkeys when he saw movement and believed he saw a turkey head and fan.
He rested the shotgun barrel on a fallen tree, positioned his daughter in front of him, and — when he again saw what he believed was a turkey head — had his 3-year-old daughter pull the trigger, according to the complaint.
The warden measured the distance between Lehman’s position and the two people who were struck at approximately 39 yards.
What the injured man told investigators
The man who was shot, 40, told investigators he knows Lehman and had previously told him about the hunting spots he used on the state land — and had asked him not to hunt there.
He and his 7-year-old son were seated against a tree and a metal post, facing an open field with their backs toward Lehman’s position. Both wore camouflage with leafy patterns and no red, white or blue. They were not using turkey decoys or a fan.
He told investigators he believes Lehman may have mistaken his hand for a turkey head, because the shot came a second or two after he used a turkey call.
After the shot, he yelled that they were people and had been shot, saw his son bleeding from the head, applied a makeshift tourniquet to his own arm and helped get them out of the woods. He said Lehman ran up and said something to the effect that he didn’t know they were out there and was sorry.
The injuries
The father was struck by multiple pellets in his back, lower torso, left hand, forearm and upper arm. At a follow-up visit 12 days later, he still had numbness and significant swelling in his left hand and forearm and could not make a full fist, according to the complaint.
His son was struck in the back and head, with pellets penetrating his skull and entering the brain cavity. Surgeons operated June 5 to remove as many pellets as they could. According to the complaint, the boy’s mother told investigators surgeons could not remove one pellet near the spinal cord, one in the skull and a third in the brain.
The sheriff’s office has declined to provide updates on either person’s condition, FOX6 reported.
Bond conditions
As a condition of release, Lehman is ordered to have no contact with the injured man, his family, his property or his residence. He is also barred from possessing or controlling firearms, with an exception allowing his spouse’s firearm to be stored in a home safe he cannot access.
Lehman’s attorney, Patrick Cafferty, was sent written questions about the case on Sept. 18. This story will be updated with his response.
Hunting safety
Lehman and his daughter were hunting under Wisconsin’s mentored hunting program, which the DNR says allows a person of any age to hunt without first completing hunter education, as long as they stay within arm’s reach of a qualifying mentor.
A mentor must be 18 or older, must be the child’s parent or guardian or have that parent’s permission, and must have completed hunter education or be exempt from it. Under DNR rules, completing U.S. armed forces basic training is one of three recognized exemptions. Lehman told wardens he was exempt because of military service.
A DNR official told TMJ4 the daughter’s age was not the central issue in the case, pointing instead to a core hunter education principle — “Be sure of your target – what’s before and beyond”.